Fake it 'til you Make it
by We rock the house
Summary: Things are changing for Maka quite a bit after she planned Tsubakis wedding- a new apartment, a new job, new crazy neighbors, a new school year, and most importantly, a new strange boy that just happens to be the best man. Rated T for language/typical college party stuff
1. Chapter 1

Fake it 'til you Make it

"I do."

With one simple phrase, nearly every female (and male) in the building was in tears. The dark haired bride looked slightly south toward her bouncing, blue haired groom who fist pumped to a cheering crowd. Before the words 'You may kiss the bride' were halfway out of the priest's mouth, the groom had his newlywed wife in a deep kiss. The crowd cheered louder as the couple broke apart and just stared into each other's eyes.

 _Gimme a break._ Maka thought as she watched her best friend, her roommate, make the most debilitating vow of her life. She was happy for her, and knew without a doubt that Tsubaki and Blackstar would have a great life together. But that didn't stop her from feeling like this was all happening too soon, the girl was 20 for Pete's sake! How did she know this was the guy for her? The entire ceremony had been filled with sniffles and cries from everyone (except for her of course). Maka had tried her best to play the role of the perfect maid of honor, but alas, there was only so much she could take until her eyes started rolling.

With that, the wedding ceremony was finished and the cliché wedding song rung across the room from the booming pipe organ. Everyone was on their feet and clapping/crying for the couple as a shower of rose petals came from the balcony above.

Maka handed the bouquet back to the blushing bride who smiled and mouthed 'I love you so much!' back to her. Maka smiled back at her best friend and the exiting of the procession began. She reluctantly took her place next to the best man as she watched the retreating figures of the bride and groom. He offered his arm to Maka who took it without breaking her concentration; she was incredibly preoccupied with her mind whirling.

She sighed as her thoughts flew round and round her young friend and her new life- how great it must feel to find someone who loves you on such a deep level. Her mind raced with thoughts of happiness, loneliness, excitement, and even a little bit of jealousy as she tried to keep her composure down the aisle.

Her composure didn't last long as she tripped out the double doors. _Seriously? Of all the things that could happen…_ Maka thought desperately. The loose grip of the best man tightened almost instantly as he caught her fall.

 _Well then._ Maka though as she struggled to maintain what little dignity she had left after that. Maka looked up slowly to her savior with a feeling of humility. Her cheeks burned as she finally caught sight of the best man. How she failed to even look at him before was a mystery in it's own. I mean come on, she had walked in with the guy, stood about 6 feet from him for nearly an hour, and she hadn't even glanced at him once. Shame. Dark red eyes stared back at her lazily. _Woah._ She thought as she stared at him curiously _Really? I never looked at him once?_ He had stark white hair and crimson eyes, yet he wasn't pale… _What the hell, I thought albinos were supposed to be incredibly pasty and always wearing sunglasses!_ If anything, Maka looked albino compared to him… _jeeze 'Albino Albarn' why does that name haunt my memories til this day? High school was stupid._

Her curious stare didn't go unnoticed as the best man raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at her. Maka turned red again. "You shouldn't get so caught up with your thoughts, you're going to end up hurting yourself… or pulling someone else down with you." The best man said with a snicker.

Maka nearly lost her cool, and she was sure the best man was aware of it since he gave her a lopsided smirk " _So_ sorry, I'll make sure to trip when no one's around next time." She picked herself up as the man let her arm go. He had absolutely NO IDEA how hard it was to walk in heels as a girl who never wore anything but flats and boots.

He gave a short laugh, exposing razor shrarp teeth. _Weird._ She was so close to storming off, but her manners got the better of her.

She cleared her throat in an attempt to hide her embarrassment/ridiculous blush. "Well uhh, thank you…" She said lamely, shifting her gaze away from the smirking best man. "See you at the reception." Without waiting for a reply, she sped off down the church steps and out of view, finally allowing herself a frustrated growl. She couldn't help the feeling she was being stared at the entire time.

 _How jerk-ish can someone be? I mean, sure he MAY have saved me from complete humiliation but he doesn't have to rub it in!_

XOXO

30 minutes of heavy rush hour traffic later and it was early evening when Maka drove up to the reception in her old Toyota. _Very clever to have your reception around sunset, it definitely adds to the ambiance._ Maka thought as the sun approached the horizon. It was a clear day, which meant they were in for a spectacular display from the heavens when the sun did finally set. She could already hear a few people commenting on the soon-to-be sunset.

The reception was being held at a privately owned lake house. Although Maka had never been here before, she had been the one to book it (being the maid of honor and all) and silently prayed that it would live up to the advertisement. She walked through the doors and was stunned by the sheer beauty of the place. "Hmm, nice pick after all." She said to herself.

She walked through the foyer and through the different rooms listening in on peoples' conversations as they admired the mansion. Maka prided herself on perfectionism in every facet of her life. Not only was she a dedicated student at Shibusen University, she also worked two jobs and volunteered in her local library. It was tough sometimes, especially with someone as diligent as Maka- nothing ever went uncompleted or done to less than her best ability. No matter how hard Maka worked at all of the areas in her life, she was still just barely keeping afloat on a sea of loans, bills, and payments. College alone was sucking up her funds, even with her large sum of scholarships- textbook prices are RIDICULOUS, am I right? Living, in general, wasn't cheap, especially since she would now have to live on her own. She didn't really have any other choice though; the school was too far away from her dad's house so she couldn't live there (not that she would anyway) and all her other close friends had living arrangements already. Who knew it would cost so much to be alive?

Maka walked to the end of the house and out the back door to the garden. It was the reason she had decided to go with this location in particular for the reception. The backyard was the perfect place to set up tables and chairs for a reception, or at least that's what she had been told by the property owner. She stepped outside and was once again stunned by the beauty. The yard overlooked the lake with a perfect view of the coming sunset. The flowers and landscaping were straight out of 'Home and Garden', and the aroma that filled the air reminded her of a Bath and Bodyworks store. The center arrangements on the tables were gorgeous and the majority of the guests were beginning to find their seat placements.

"Oooh Tsubaki did such a great job with the seat arrangements!" Maka overheard a few of the guests saying.

"Yes she got my whole family at a table!" Another guest responded.

 _Crap._ Maka thought as she searched for hers, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. _Who did she seat me next to? Certainly not her and Blackstar, that table is reserved for family only so…_ Her name written neatly on a white card caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She was seated at a table close to the bride and groom's table which was closer to the edge of the garden. She picked up the name card next to hers, who's seat was currently unoccupied, and stared for a second. "I'm sitting next to a 'Soul'? What is that, like a memorial to a dead person?" She scoffed quietly as she placed the card back on the table.

"Not exactly." Came a smooth voice from behind her. Maka turned around quickly, a scowl in place for whoever the eavesdropper might be. She came face to face with the best man who wore the same lazy expression from the wedding with a hint of amusement.

"You have got to be kidding me." She said, her face tinting a slight pink hue. "They seriously sat me next to you?"

"Excited?" He lazily mocked as he took his seat at the table.

"I'm sure you were secretly hoping so." Maka shot back as she turned on her heel. She wanted to use the restroom before dinner was served anyway, this was the perfect excuse for a dramatic exit.

"And here I thought we had really hit it off." She heard Soul say in that same lazy, mocking tone. She could almost hear the taunting smirk in his voice. It took everything in her power not to turn around and deck him.

 _Think about where you are, think about where you are._ She repeated in her mind as she made her way between the tables back towards the house. She had just re-entered the house when she heard someone behind her.

"Maka!" A female voice called, "Hey long time no see!"

Maka turned, and recognizing the beaming face, smiled "Kim, I haven't seen you since high school got out, how are you?"

Kim gave a sour look. "Obviously not as good as Tsubaki, she's been out of high school for barely a year and she's already married? Lucky girl!" Kim said with a distant look in her eyes. "But I'll find me a man at some point, one with pretty wallet to go with a pretty face."

"Oh Kim, you never change." Maka said in an exasperated tone.

"Speaking of pretty faces, who's the hottie you're sitting next to? I saw him during the wedding, all stoic and cool. He rolled his eyes like the WHOLE time too… Just like a certain maid of honor, I might add." Kim said with a jab at Maka's stomach.

Maka blushed at being discovered, Kim was always perceptive. "I didn't think anyone saw… But the guy next to me is a total jerk, don't worry about it!" Maka said changing the subject quickly. "I really don't have any interest in guys like that."

"Aww but you two obviously have so much in common! Take your dislike of all things happy and beautiful for example!" Kim said with another jab at Maka's side.

"Hey I'll have you know I helped plan this happy and beautiful thing!" Maka said as she play-shoved Kim. Laughing, she said, "Besides, weddings are just a place where couples grow closer and single people grow more aware they're alone."

"Huh, ouch, always the cynic!" Kim said as she started walking towards the bathroom with Maka.

"Well it's kind of true!" Maka said with a smile, "Especially when the dancing starts, that's when the bar huggers and wall flowers emerge." She held the door to the bathroom open for Kim.

Kim walked to the mirror and started re-applying make-up as Maka used the restroom. "I don't know how you come up with these things, Maka! I think weddings are great, and _I'm_ single!"

Maka came to join Kim at the sink. "Well, you're also incredibly gorgeous. No guy, single or otherwise, doesn't look your way when you walk by."

"Maka are you kidding me?!" Kim nearly screamed as she grabbed Maka's shoulders and turned her to face the mirror. "I would kill for your bone structure. You look absolutely stunning this evening. Green is totally your color!" She said, referring to the bridesmaid dress that Maka wore. It was a light-green, strapless dress which hugged her torso and flared out from her waist down, hitting just above her knee. "If Tsubaki didn't have boobs to match Pamela Anderson, you would have been the center of attention during the ceremony."

Maka tucked a lose strand of her ash-blond hair behind her ear. She had actually made an effort to look good tonight. She hated to call herself pretty, but she knew her light make-up made her green eyes shine and her facial features glow. "Thanks Kim, but with the company I'm keeping at my table, I don't think I'll be too lucky with the guys tonight." She said as the two made their way back out towards the gardens.

"Ok well let me know if you want to change seats ever, Maka, I kind of like it when they play the bully!" With those final words, Kim left a blushing Maka to stare after her. _Jesus she likes the bully? Sketch. I don't think this guys a bully so much as a cocky asshole._ She made her way back to her table where the food was just about to be served. All of the others seated at her table seemed to be talking and getting to know one another.

"I thought you might have gotten lost." The best man… Soul said to her with a side glance.

Maka took her seat beside him and before taking a sip of her already poured drink she said "Lucky for you I only fell in once." It was meant to be a joke but it came out a little harsh.

Soul laughed softly under his breath. "Ok, ok, maybe we got off on the wrong foot… So to speak." Maka turned her head sharply and met his red eyes with a livid glare of molten emerald at his reference to earlier in the day. "OK that was the last one, I promise." He said with a grin. He turned his body towards her and extended a hand. "Hi, the name's Soul."

Maka resolved to play along, turning her own body towards his. "Hello, Soul, I'm Maka." She couldn't help the smile that graced her lips as she gave the corny self-introduction.

Soul took her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Maka." He rasped in his low, smooth voice, looking at her through white bangs.

She laughed at the formality, "The pleasure is all mine, Soul."

XOXO

Alright so this story's direction has taken a huge turn from what I originally designed, but that could be that it's taken me over a year to decide what to do with it. I've never done a Soul Eater fic done in our world so stick with me! Any comments are welcome, and it really motivates me to update!


	2. Chapter 2

2

By the time the meal had been served and finished, all of the toasting finally done (Maka was pleased with her own toast, causing a few of the guests and of course Tsubaki, to tear up), the sun was setting, sending beautiful pinks, oranges, and reds across the darkening sky. Maka smiled and interlaced her fingers under her chin, her elbows resting on her designated table. _Just like the owner promised._ She thought as she watched Tsubaki smile at the fading sun. Oh how happy she looked, Maka couldn't get over the gleam in her best friend's eyes. Maka wished that she could relate, even slightly, but then smirked at the thought of the last guy who she had agreed to go on a date with. The poor guy was probably still recovering, nobody tries to make a grab at her ass on the first date without a curb stomping.

"What's with that smirk?" Came the smooth voice of the best man. Startled out of her momentary reverie, she saw him watching her, leaning back in his chair, one arm slung lazily over it, head cocked to one side, and an eyebrow arched. His eyes were still half lidded but she could see the interest behind them.

"Nothing!" She said, voice breaking after not talking for a while. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Nothing, I was just thinking… I uhh, I smile when I think."

"You mean you smirk when you think." He said shifting his body so he was sitting a little straighter.

"I wasn't smirking!" She said, incredibly grateful that the others at their table were all engaged in their own conversations. "Oh look, they're about to cut the cake!" Maka changed the topic and abruptly stood up, waving at the photographer she hired to get pictures of it.

She noticed Soul watching her with a lopsided grin, "You sure do play your role well, most honorable maid. I never really understood why they called them bride's 'maids' until today."

Maka surprisingly wasn't angered by this comment, it was actually quite true. She sighed and sat back down, watching as the bride and groom take turns shoving cake in each other's mouths and clapped with everyone else. One of the caterers took over then and began cutting up cake for the rest of the guests.

"Never again." She breathed so only Soul could hear.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea." She said, leaning back in her chair. "I'm never doing this if I get married, if anything I'll just go grab a priest, a witness, and escape to some undisclosed location for a few weeks. I mean why go through all the trouble? It's not really about the wedding after all…" she trailed off, self-conscious as Soul stared at her.

"Some undisclosed location… That's kind of creepy." He flashed a grin as Maka shot him a death glare, but then added: "You're an interesting girl, Maka." humor still behind scarlet eyes. He stood slowly and glanced toward the cake table where the caterer was still diligently cutting up the wedding cake. "Want a piece?" he said while gesturing with his thumb.

"A small one." Maka said and Soul began to make his way over to the table.

"What a sweet gentleman!" said the Lady sitting on the other side of Maka. She looked to be about forty, and Maka assumed it was her husband that occupied the seat next to her. "Are you two dating, honey?"

Maka smiled and noticed the name cards- they were Tsubaki's aunt and uncle. "No, no, we just met today, he was the best man and I was the maid of honor."

"Well don't let him get too far out of your sites, dear, he's got quite a few admirers!" The lady said as she tilted her head toward Soul's direction. He did indeed have the attention of every female in close proximity but if he noticed them, he showed no signs. His manner was aloof, _cool_ one could even say, as he stood waiting for cake.

Maka giggled at the lady's comment, "Thank you, I'll be sure to keep that in mind!" She wouldn't. Why would she? Maka Albarn was definitely not into this red eyed, sharp teethed, strangely tan, albino.

She continued thinking about his features for a while until she was brought back to the present by an enormous slice of cake being plopped in front of her. "Miss me?" Soul said with a lopsided grin.

Maka stared blankly at the cake in front of her. "Are you kidding me? I'd hate to see what you call a large piece."

Soul looked back at her innocently "Hey, I'd call that a measly piece, actually."

Before she could spew out a string of curses, Soul quickly swapped their pieces, and she was left with a slice about half the size of the one previously in front of her. "What the hell!" she said, clearly not liking being fooled.

Soul snickered and points his hand in the direction of the dance floor where Tsubaki's mother is speaking into the mic saying it was time for the first dance. Tsubaki and her father made their way out onto the dance floor where they swayed to "Wildflowers" by Tom Petty. Maka was momentarily caught up in the precious moment until Blackstar cut in and the music immediately changed to the Macarena where the two did a choreographed dance to a whistling crowd.

"Oh man, I told that idiot not to actually do it!" Soul said as he rubbed his eyes.

Maka laughed. "It's kind of cute, and the crowd clearly loves it." Maka said, the cake swap forgotten. The song ended while everyone cheered for the new couple as they bowed. New music came on and other couples began to make there way to the dance floor. Maka returned her attention to the cake, squinting at it judgmentally before taking a bite. Heaven. So glad she had gone with the bakery's special.

Soul watched her eat, smirking again. "Don't tell me you were on cake duty too?"

"You bet I was." Maka said, grinning and taking another bite, "But I'm glad about that, the groom would have chosen the fruitcake if I wasn't there." Maka said, laughing at Soul's feigned grimace. She conveniently left out the part where she got to try every cake they offered that day.

"I'm certainly glad you were there to save the day. Blackstar can get a little out of hand sometimes." Soul said, giving her a salute, to which she laughed again.

"So how do you and Blackstar know each other anyway?" Maka asked, putting her plate to the side in favor of her glass of wine (yes she most certainly wasn't of age but damn it, she's the one who chose the wine for this party anyway, she might as well drink it).

"We went to high school together," Soul said with a look of… fondness maybe? Maka was having a hard time reading this guy, "The first day I met him, he challenged me to a fist fight- lucky for me he hadn't really hit his martial arts stride yet so neither of us ended up winning. But we were inseparable after that- always getting in trouble and having an awesome time."

"You fought the first time you met?" Maka looked incredulous as the best man nodded as if it were the most normal thing in the world, "Boys are _so_ strange sometimes."

Maka saw Soul lean back in his chair and give a light-hearted laugh, "No argument there. Anyway, we were roommates in college then, this was our last semester together since he's got himself a wife."

That perked Maka's interest. Blackstar went to Shibusen University, along with Tsubaki and Maka. Did Soul go there as well? Before she could ask, someone called to her.

"Maka come dance!" came the voice of the bride who came over, groom in tow.

"Yeah, Soul, get up off your ass, you lazy bum, It's my wedding and I say everyone should dance!" Blackstar screeched at Soul, who made no move but a lifted eyebrow.

Maka stood and turned towards Soul, a challenging smile on her face. Soul visibly bristled, clearly not liking being called out. He stood slowly and pointed to the dance floor, an aloof half-grin on his face. Tsubaki cheered before her and Blackstar went back to their own dancing. Maka followed Soul as he made his way to the center- was she really about to dance with this guy? Well, it was kind of custom for the groomsmen and bride's maids to dance together so this wasn't really weird or anything… Right?

The best man spun on his heel quickly, startling Maka slightly, and gave her a calculated stare. The next song came on as he extended his had toward her.

 _Well. Alright then, let's see if the bride-to-be ballroom class was any good._

It wasn't. Maka wasn't necessarily a bad dancer after the classes, but it was clear that this guy had a background in dance and had a keen ear for beats. Maka nearly tripped several times, but managed to not step on his toes. She also was struggling with the sheer proximity, the bride-to-be ballroom class was, after all, an all female class- she hadn't really danced with a guy partner. Well like this anyway, all classically and stuff.

When the song was over, Maka's legs nearly gave out (more so from embarrassment than actual fatigue). She blushed up at Soul who wasn't even breathing heavily, his eyebrows raised and a lopsided grin that screamed 'I'm too cool for school.'

"Well, that was fun." He said making his way back to the table "We've officially fulfilled our dancing duty, now I'm not moving again."

Maka followed him and plopped down in her chair. "How did you learn to dance like that?" she said, face still flushed.

"It was kind of just something my family made me do growing up, not really a big deal." Soul said with a distant look. Maka made a disbelieving sound in her throat but remained silent. They both turned their attention to the swaying crowd of wedding goers, from the old grandparents to the flower girl and ring bearer; everyone was having a fantastic time.

Maka smiled. _Well this has turned out better than expected._

"Excuse me, are you the maid of honor?" came a timid voice. Maka turned in her seat to see one of the servers looking incredibly scared. She nodded. "I really hate to bother you but it seems that the cleanup staff that was hired had a miscommunication and isn't able to come tonight."

 _Or worse._ Maka sighed, shaking her head. "Guess that makes me the new cleanup staff. I'll go find the other bridesmaids and see if they can stay and help."

The server looked relieved as she thanked Maka repeatedly before getting back to work. Maka stood up to go search for the other bridesmaids.

"Hey…" came the voice of the best man. Maka turned to see him staring at the sky, a hand behind his head. "I'll see if the groomsmen can stay and help as well, it shouldn't take to long with all of us."

Maka was speechless, she literally just stood there with her mouth open. She managed a strangled 'thank you' and Soul stood as well, a cocky-but-kind smile in place.

"You're welcome." He said before he walked off into the crowd.

XOXO

It was a couple hours later, after the bulk of the party had left to send off the bride and groom on their honeymoon and the bridesmaids and groomsmen nearly had the place spotless. It was mostly just collapsing tables and chairs anyway. Maka thanked them all as they were leaving.

She took a seat next to the grand piano and arched her back to stretch it out. _Wow, I'm pooped._

A pair of shoes walked in front of her. "And finally your duty has ended, miss maid of honor." Soul stood in front of her, hands in his pockets, his blazer slung over one arm.

"What are you still doing here?" Maka said in bewilderment, swearing that Soul had left with the others.

"It's not cool to leave a chick on her own this late at night." He shifted his gaze to the piano and strode over to the bench, taking a seat.

Maka cocked an eyebrow. "You play?"

"Yeah." He said cautiously.

"Another family thing?" She said coming to stand near him.

"You could say that." Soul pushed the cover back and played a minor chord that raised the hairs on the back of Maka's neck. She said nothing and Soul turned his head, an unasked question in his eyes. He turned back to the piano and began to play.

The song was like nothing she'd ever heard- creepy and twisted, scary even. But above all, it was mesmerizing, Maka couldn't take her eyes off of Soul's fingers moving quickly across the keys. The song lasted only a few minutes but even when it finished, the haunting melody rung in her ears.

Soul closed the piano and spun around in the seat to look up at her. That same look was in his eyes, the question he didn't voice.

"Well that was cool." Maka said. Soul's serious façade broke immediately and he laughed. "I'm serious!" Maka said, turning slightly pink.

"Ok, ok. Don't get mad, I just wasn't expecting you to like it." He said. "This changes a few things." He held out his hand, "The names Soul Eater, nice to meet you."

Maka reached for his hand _another introduction?_ "Maka Albarn, good to meet you too." She took his hand.

 _A flash across her vision, another time, another place, a different world. A girl and a boy meeting for the first time, she in a school uniform, he in a leather jacket. The beginning of a bond stronger than any other before…_

"Déjà vu." She smiled, and pulled Soul to a standing position. They walked out of the house, Maka locking it as they went, and out to their respective vehicles.

"A motorcycle?" Maka asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"A beat up rust bucket?" Soul fired back.

"Touché." Maka said narrowing her eyes. "Thanks for staying and helping, it's been nice getting to know you."

"Yeah yeah, I'm sure we'll see each other around." Soul said.

"You go to Shibusen right?" Maka asked.

Soul looked surprised, "Yeah, you too?"

"Yep, I might see you on campus some time this semester, I guess." Maka said, shifting her weight onto her other foot.

Soul sighed and pulled out his phone, "Number." He said handing the phone to her. Maka took it and plugged in her name and number. "Sweet." He gave her a lopsided grin. "Later, Maka."

"Later Soul."

XOXO


	3. Chapter 3

3

Maka awoke to her cat, Blair, scratching her bedroom door. It had been a rough transition for Blair in this new apartment- cats are always bad with moves. Maka hadn't had an easy time getting used to the new place either. She had relocated to a part of town with cheaper housing (and was conveniently close-ish to campus) but came with negatives. There were a lot of sketchy activity happening literally out her door- her neighbors were college students/part time drug dealers, at night there was a constant trail of drunk people and leering men walking in and out of the plethora of dive bars, and to top it off fraternity row was her fastest way of getting to campus.

None of this would have bothered her half as much if she had a roommate, but she didn't. If it weren't for Blair, she'd be completely alone, and that was something she didn't want to think about. It had been about a week and a half since the wedding, and the couple had just flown back from their honeymoon, both of them starting the new semester in a few days. Maka took their honeymoon as an opportunity to move to her new place by herself- not an easy task when it came to her furniture. Armed with a bungee cord and her Toyota, Maka had successfully moved all of her shit into the new apartment, and there was A LOT of shit. Even so, the apartment seemed so empty. It could have been because it was actually meant for two people, but the owner of the place was desperate for a tenant and had offered the same price for this double as a single. But it also could have been the sheer lack of noise.

When Maka had lived with Tsubaki, there had never been a moment she felt insecure. Tsubaki had an aura of pure happiness that infected Maka every time she was around her. Even when they were in different rooms, Maka still felt content. But since she moved in to the new place, it was like a light in her life had dimmed. Still she tried not to let it get her down too much, especially with the new semester starting on Monday. She had today and tomorrow to get all of her text books, restock her fridge, and mentally prepare for the coming workload. Speaking of work…

Maka checked her watch. _6:30, guess now's a better time than any to get up._ Today Maka had a shift at the Egyptian Coffee and Tea House from 8 to 4. She had worked this job each week, Saturday and sometimes Wednesday, since she first arrived at Shibusen- it was the one consistent thing in her life right now. The owners were a compassionate couple from Egypt, her coworkers were all friendly, and for the most part so was the customer spectrum. This job was fun, and it paid incredibly well for a teahouse. Her other job was not quite as fulfilling...

She had worked as a bartender since she entered college (after just turning 18) in a bar across town, the Sand Bar- so original. Most weeknights she worked from 7 to 11, but if she had to work Fridays or Saturdays she usually didn't start til 8 and leave until 2 AM. How did she get a job as a bartender at the age of 18? Well after hearing Maka's sob story about a shitty dad getting stuck with a daughter because her shitty mom up and left really seemed to pull at the owner's heartstrings. After deeming that she was mature enough to handle the bar setting, Maka began learning the ropes and was picking up shifts within a week. And besides all of that, the legal age to bartend is technically 18, however rare it may be to see a bartender under 21. A year and a half later and she managed to hold her own as one of the most popular bartenders. This job didn't pay as well, but what it lacked in salary it made up for in tips. It was amazing how generous customers become after ingesting alcohol.

Because her new apartment took her much further away from the Sand Bar, the owner had decided to transfer her to his second bar, the ChupaCabra Bar- the name was a little more interesting, Maka thought. From what her co-workers had told her, ChupaCabra was much more popular with the younger crowd, being so close to Shibusen. All of them had encouraged Maka to make the move since she'd have an easier time interacting with customers closer to her own age- it wasn't that she was bad with adults, old men just had a tendency to hit on her more frequently than any other bartender. So this put both of her jobs within walking distance, which was perfect with her busted bike.

She moved around her bedroom, grabbing clothes and tying her hair up into pigtails, all the while avoiding Blair who was making it a point to get in her way as much as possible. "I'll get you your food, just give me a minute!" Maka said, lifting Blair into her arms and bringing her to the kitchen.

She poured cat food into Blairs bowl before rummaging through the fridge for her own food. Maka liked to cook when she had time, and with an extra half an hour this morning you can bet your ass she was going to make the best quiche on the block. She worked her way around the kitchen, breaking eggs and grabbing pans, finally sticking the quiche into the oven. She sat on the countertop and read her book while she waited for the oven to do it's magic. When it finally did, she pulled out the quiche and marveled at the delicious, savory aroma. She set it on the stove and turned to find an expectant Blair staring at her, the cat food completely forgotten.

"Sorry Blair, if you were a human I'd give you at least half of this, there's no way I can eat this whole thing." She said apologetically, Blair meowed loudly and went back to her much less tempting cat food. "Well fine, ignore me! I'll just have the leftovers tomorrow morning." Maka said somewhat sadly. If Tsubaki was here, they would have easily finished off this quiche- they worked as a team in their old apartment, even when it came to cooking and eating food.

Maka ate silently, pleased with her work. She wrapped the rest of the quiche up and stuck it in the fridge, and tidied up the Kitchen. _7:30. Well_ _it never hurts to be early._ She grabbed her phone, keys and wallet, stuffing them in her coat pockets and heading towards the door. "Bye, Blair, no wild parties ok?" She joked, sliding on her boots and leaving out the door. Maka turned from her door and basically shoulder checked the guy who was walking down the hall, hitting his right shoulder with her own.

"Oh, excuse me, I didn't see you there." She apologized, looking up. _Uhh_ …

The guy looked about her age, slightly taller than her, with golden eyes and black hair that had 3 strange white stripes in it. But that wasn't what got her attention, it was the guys face, screwed up into something close to a grimace of pain as he looked at her. "Do it on the other side now!" He practically screamed, pointing at his other shoulder.

"I'm sorry, you want me to do what now?" Maka asked, taking a step back. This guy was nuts.

"You can't just run into someone on one side and then not the other, HIT MY LEFT SHOULDER NOW!" He said, hysterically. Maka was beside herself, OCD people weren't an anomaly but this was more than extreme. She sighed and looked at him with a raised eyebrow (which she quickly lowered when he gasped at her).

"Are you being serious?" She asked incredulously, getting slightly annoyed now.

"Do I look like I'm joking!?" The guy seethed.

"Not really…"

"Good." He took her left arm and bumped her shoulder with his own.

"Hey!" Maka said, furiously, staring down quiet possibly the weirdest person she had ever met "You can't just do that, are you crazy?" He stared back at her, a blank expression in place of his previously painful one.

"There, all is forgiven. Please take care to do things symmetrically next time you run into someone." He said calmly, turning on his heel and heading into the apartment across the hall from hers.

"Hey wai-" the door shut before Maka could tell him to go symmetrically fuck himself. "Asshole." She growled. And why was he going into the drug dealers' apartment? There's no way a tightwad like him could ever relax enough to break the law.

She gave an exasperated huff and walked towards the staircase. She lived on the third floor, and the only other apartment on this side of the staircase was the other double room across from hers- the drug dealers. Of course.

She walked briskly to the teahouse, putting the incident with the OCD man out of her mind. It was still early so there were very few people walking the streets. She took note of the overturned garbage can, the tree with toilet paper strung all over it, and the random mattress in someone front lawn- sleeping person included. _I guess Friday nights on this side of town are going to be just a blast._ She thought, sarcastically.

Ten minutes later, she walked into the teahouse and greeted her coworkers with a smile and began to set up the register. Maka rarely worked as one of the waitresses as her speed and efficiency at the register was much needed, according to her bosses. She still had ten minutes before teahouse patrons would begin to arrive, so she went and changed into her work outfit- black pants with an embroidered green tunic with slits up the sides. Her bosses said it was a trendy version of traditional Egyptian garb.

She returned to the front and prepared for the influx of morning tea drinkers, which there happened to be a lot of, the majority being over the age of 50. The first few trickled in slowly, then the rush came. This teahouse was known across the whole city as having the largest and best tea selection for miles, and many people came to test that out. She greeted every customer with a smile as she showed them to their seats, letting them know their server would be right with them. Today there were three servers working along side her, Kilik, Harvar, and Jackie (who happened to be Kim's best friend), all of which she had a good relationship with. She had gone to high school with Jackie and Harvar, and had met Kilik in one of her writing classes freshman year. All four of them had shared college classes together in fact, along with a few others whom Maka considered to be close friends.

"Yo Maka," Kilik said, coming to the register, "You coming to our party tonight? First one of the year, baby!" he gave her a thumbs up and a grin. He lived in a house with four other people- his two closest friends (twins, who's real names Maka didn't know as everyone just called them Fire and Thunder), Harvar, and Ox. Ox was another person she went to high school with, the biggest pain in her ass when it came to exams since they were the top two students all throughout high school.

"Oh, that was tonight?" Maka said sheepishly, "I'm so sorry Kilik, I thought it was next weekend, I'm actually working tonight."

"No problem, we're probably having another one soon so no biggie!" Kilik said, happily, "I thought you usually didn't work Saturday nights at the Sand Bar though?"

Maka sighed. "I mostly don't, but I just got transferred to a new bar since it's closer to where I live now and the manager asked me to come in to get used to it before school starts."

"Huh that makes sense." Kilik said thoughtfully, bringing a hand on his chin. "Where did you get transferred to?"

"It's called ChupaCabra, over on 9th, have you heard of it?" Maka asked, resting her elbows on the register desk. Kilik's face brightened instantly.

"Oh no way! I love that place!" He said, enthusiastically. Coming a little closer and lowering his voice he said, "You gotta slip me a free drink sometime, I always come in there before heading to house parties." He winked at her when she put her 'I-could-get-fired-for-that' face on then sidled off to go attend to the customers. Kilik, along with Jakie and Harvar were all 21 already, they were a year ahead of her, Ox, and Kim in school. And Tsubaki too, now that she thought about it, but Blackstar was a 22 year old junior, having a really early birthday.

The day continued on with a steady influx of tea-drinkers. She took her lunch break in the back parking lot with Jackie, who mostly talked about how awesome the party was going to be tonight. She also brought up that Kim had talked about seeing her at Tsubaki's wedding and how beautiful it must have been.

"I mean I can't BELIEVE you were the maid of honor, that must have been so cool!" Jackie gushed, "Kim said the best man was also beyond attractive, she was so jealous that you got to sit by him. It's kind of silly though considering her and Ox are pretty much soul mates, even though neither of them will make a move."

Maka laughed at that, she hadn't seen Kim in so long that she had forgotten that her and Ox seemed to have a thing back in high school. "Yeah she and Ox would be good together for sure!"

"Hey, don't wiggle out of this, tell be about this best man." Jackie said, slyly.

Maka exhaled heavily, thinking for a second about her brief encounter with the best man. Soul, that was his name- so strange. "Well," She began, "He was very different. At first I thought he was a pretty-boy jerk but after talking to him for a while, I think that it's kind of an act to get people off his tracks of actually being a decent guy. He seemed pretty…" she searched for a word, then smirked, "Cool. I guess."

Jackie looked puzzled, like she was about to ask a follow up question but Harvar came to save the day, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Ladies," He greeted, "Kilik and I are about to take our break, you ready to tag back in?"

Jakie blushed at the physical contact "No problem!" She squeaked, and stood immediately, grabbing Maka by her elbow and practically dragged her back inside. She didn't let go until Maka had to forcefully pry her fingers off of her arm.

"Jeeze talk about soul mates," Maka grumbled, "Why haven't you told Harvar how you feel?"

Jackie turned redder than before. "Sh-shut up! I don't feel that way about him!"

Maka smiled and pat her friend on the back. "Your secret's safe with me." She grinned and went back to the register to check in a group of old ladies.

XOXOX

"Bye, Maka! We'll maybe stop in and see you tonight!" Jackie called from the back room as Maka was leaving the teahouse.

"Yeah if you slip me a free drink!" She heard Kilik call as well.

"Ok, hope to see you guys there! And Kilik, not on your life." Maka said, receiving laughter in response.

Harvar was waiting by the door, offering to walk her part of the way home since he had to go that way to get to the grocery store. "I still can't believe a 20 year old who's barely drank more than a handful of times is a top bartender." He said, skeptically.

Maka shrugged, pushing the door open with her hip. "I just know how to make a lot of drinks and I know how to make them well." She smiled. She had spent a lot of time after hours memorizing drink combinations and practicing with the different mixology tools. It had helped that she was able to pick up most things quickly, though.

The two walked in a comfortable silence, Harvar being a man of very few words, and Maka making a mental list of what she had to do before work.

"Well here's my turn, see you tonight, maybe." Harvar said, about to make a left towards the grocery store.

"Wait are you guys _all_ going to ChupaCabras before the party at your house?" Maka asked. It wasn't like she knew their bar activity, not being able to go out with them yet.

"Yeah, we probably will, there's a group of us that usually hits ChupaCabra on Saturdays, it's kind of a thing now. Besides, Fire and Thunder will be at home to take care of the party." Harvar replied, "I'm sure we'll see you there." He gave her a half smile and waved as he made his way towards the store.

"See you later!" Maka waved back. It took her another five minutes to get back to her apartment and she hadn't encountered any problems along the way. It seemed like the daylight hours weren't going to be too full of problems like she had previously thought. She made it into her apartment and was met by a meowing Blair.

"Ok ok, I'll get your food hold on." She said, taking her shoes off and walking over to the kitchen. She set her bag down on the counter and poured Blair her food, choosing to make a sandwich for herself. She still had a few hours before she needed to get to the bar, so she spent some time looking over her class schedule and deciding what classes she actually needs to buy text books for, and which she could just use online sources for studying.

 _Ugh music theory, why did I choose this elective?_ She thought, skimming through the course requirements. Maka was double majoring in Comparative Literature and General Science, something that would have been impossible without her ridiculous amount of college credits she earned from high school. She had basically completed 2 years of college in Bacc. Core. classes by the time she entered Shibusen and had been advised to double major since her scholarship would last her 4 years. With two majors though, the amount of BS elective courses she had to take was outrageous, and she had chosen music theory as a way of filling up a hole in her schedule. Whatever, at least that credit was taken care of.

Her schedule was surprisingly tame for taking 15 credits: She had music theory, literature from Spanish conquests, Poetry of the ancient world, Anatomy and Physiology (plus the lab), and a one credit health class. Not too bad, Maka was confident this term would go well.

She set her schedule aside and went to change into her work clothes for tonight- tight, black skinny jeans, her usual black boots, and a low cut, dark-green shirt that skimmed the skin above her jeans, showing a peak of her mid drift. She lined her eyes and put mascara on as her only make up. She really did look like a different person. Just how she liked it. Bartending was hard enough as an under-aged female, having people recognize you as their student made things much more complicated. Maka had learned that the hard way and had thus adopted a different style for her bartending. It's not that she looked _drastically_ different, just different enough to throw randoms off her scent. It was also an attempt to make her look slightly older, something her big round eyes and signature pigtails made difficult.

She sighed at the mirror after she was done, "Good enough, let's get this over with."

It was getting dark when she left her apartment, and her thin jacket barely fended off the crisp night air. There were a lot more people walking around now, many of which took note of Maka as she walked quickly down the sidewalk. She knew she wasn't ugly by any means, but she still considered herself quiet plain on any average day. But her eye makeup and tight clothing drew attention, giving her an edgier look than normal. She walked on, avoiding eye contact with the men who called to her from the street corner. _Pigs._

She rounded the last corner and was immediately struck by how big ChupaCabra was- this was nothing like the Sand Bar. She walked to the door, which had a bouncer in the front- that was also something the Sand Bar never had. The bouncer was tall, with dark skin and cornrows, Maka pegged him to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

"I.D." He said, gruffly, scrutinizing her appearance. It was clear he was not at all fooled by her 'mature' look.

"I work here." Maka said, extending her hand, "I'm the new bartender, Maka Albarn, I just transferred from the Sand Bar."

The bouncer looked extremely taken aback. "I'm sorry, what? You're a bartender? Ain't you a little young?" Maka just smiled and waited, her hand still outstretched. The bouncer took it, carefully. "Alright, I'll bite. The name's Sid, I make sure young kids like you don't get in."

Maka turned bright red and immediately ran a list of scenarios through her head. "Wait, I'm serious, I work here I just-"

She was cut off by Sid laughing and patting her on the back. "I'm just messin' with you, newbie, I know who you are. Go on in and talk to Marie, she's the other bartender working tonight."

Maka murmured a 'thanks' before entering the door. She was met with dim lighting and loud music- not too dim that you couldn't see, and not too loud that you couldn't talk, but you could definitely party in here. She couldn't help but grin at the fact that there was actually a dance floor at this bar, since when was that a thing? She also noted that there were way more people here than you'd expect to see at 8:00 at night. She made her way to the bar where a pretty blonde woman with an eye patch was handing two pints of beer to a bar-goer. She turned when she saw Maka waiting at the entry and immediately grinned.

"So you're the transfer eh? They told me you were young but I didn't think we were taking in a baby!" The blonde woman laughed as Maka pinked. "Relax, kid, I'm joking, you don't look _that_ young, in fact you'll probably fit right in with this crowd! I personally will never find a husband here…" She pouted, pointing a thumb at the bar where a few groups of people were talking and laughing, none of them looking older than their mid-20's. "I'm Marie, by the way, I'll show you how we run things here!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Maka." Maka replied with a timid smile. Marie waved her to follow and Maka ducked under the bar.

"The set up is the same here as the Sand Bar, just a little larger of a bar space, so make sure you watch the whole thing." Marie said. She pointed out a few more different things to Maka as well as a back room that connected to the bar. "This is the coolest feature, right? There's no room connected to the bar at the Sand Bar, you're welcome to set your bag in there, it's less likely to get spilled on."

"Great, I think I'm ready then!" Maka said, slipping her bag into the room, even though it seemed more like a closet with a table jammed in it.

"Ah, first things first," Marie started, grabbing 2 shot glasses and a bottle of tequila, "Initiation." She grinned and filled the glasses to the brim.

Maka blanched when Marie grabbed her hand and poured salt on it. "You're joking right? Y-you know I'm not 21, right?" Maka whispered fiercely.

Marie hummed, handing her a lime wedge and her shot glass. "Well, I know that, and you know that, but we don't want the rest of the bar to know that, right?" She winked and smiled affectionately. "You know how to take a tequila shot right?" Maka resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she _was_ a bar tender after all, tequila shots were very popular. She nodded and Marie giggled, "Of course you do! Now I don't care if you're 20, I'm not going to hold you to any restrictions here. When you're here, you're a fully-fledged bartender, so here's to new beginnings! And hopefully marriage at some point…"

Maka giggled at that, "I guess I'll drink to that!" She really didn't want to, alcohol wasn't something she drank often, and it tended to hit her pretty hard since she had such a small frame.

"Alright, bottoms up!" Marie screamed. They licked the salt off their hands, drank their tequila, and bit into the lime. "Hooo, that was a good one!"

Maka grimaced a little bit but smiled through it. "Sure was… thank you for welcoming me, I'm definitely ready!"

XOXO

A/N: I just thought I'd mention that a lot of the drunken scenery Maka saw in the morning were pulled from my own experiences when I first got to University. There was literally a person sleeping on a mattress in someone's yard. Also I know this chapter was a little slow/Maka centric but I had a lot of things I needed to set up so don't worry! I promise it'll get more interesting. Thanks for reading, as always reviews are appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

4

The bar's atmosphere picked up quickly and Maka was trying her best to keep up with the constant flow of people waiting to order their drinks. Marie on the other hand looked completely comfortable, joking and laughing with happy customers. The tequila had at least loosened Maka up slightly; her nerves had dissipated drastically.

"Hey Maka, you wanna grab me a few more bottles of vodka from the shelf?" Marie called when there was a break in the customers.

"No problem!" Maka answered, bringing her over a few different brands.

"Thank you! I can't believe the number of straight vodka shots these kids do, It's like all you kids care about is getting hammered!" Marie grumbled.

Maka laughed, "I think that typically is the goal, Marie!"

"Maka! Hey Maka!" came a voice to her right. She looked over and immediately beamed. There waiting at the bar were Kilik, Harvar, and Jackie, in the crowd of people.

"Hi guys! I'm so glad you showed up, can I get you anything?" Maka asked, coming over to greet them.

Kilik grinned, "uhh yeah, you could get me that free drink we talked ab- oof!" Jackie elbowed him in the side and reached out for Maka's hand.

"Kilik is of course joking, I'll take an AMF if you don't mind!" She said with a giggle.

"One of those nights huh?" Maka smirked, referring to the AMF, aptly named the 'Adios motherfucker' for its ability to drop you on your ass. She grabbed the four bottles of alcohol necessary and poured them all at the same time into a glass, followed by soda and blue curacao. "Here you are!"

Jakie handed her a credit card and told her to leave it open. "Dang Maka, you're a pro!" she marveled, taking a drink.

"Well I do get paid to do it!" Maka answered.

"Hey I'll take one too!" Kilik said, eyeing Jackie's drink.

"I'll take one as well." Harvar said from beside Kilik. "Soul, what are you drinking? I'll buy since you and Kilik paid for the keg."

Maka did a double-take. Soul? And just like that he appeared at the bar, a slightly surprised look on his face. Very slightly, Maka noted, he looked mostly bored.

"Oh, I don't think you guys have met!" Jakie interrupted, "Soul this is Maka. Maka, Soul!"

Soul grinned lopsidedly, a hint of mischief in his eyes. "I didn't peg you for a bartender, gotta say I'm impressed, you being in such an honorable position last week…" He drawled, lowering his voice for the last part. Maka's cheeks went pink as she placed the two drinks in front of Kilik and Harvar, taking Harvar's card in place. Honorable my ass, punk. She thought vehemently.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Kilik asked, looking between them in confusion.

"You could say that. We met at Blackstar's wedding about a week ago." Soul answered.

Jackie gasped, pointing at Soul. "No way, Soul was the best man? Oh my God it makes so much sense-"

"So how do you all know each other?" Maka interrupted quickly. She did not want Soul hearing what she told Jackie.

"We all lived in the same dorm our freshman year," Harvar answered, "Soul doesn't usually come out with us since he's gone on the weekends sometimes, so I'm not surprised you were never introduced."

"Ah I see," Maka answered, looking back over at Soul who was smirking at her still. "Small world."

"Ok well we're going to grab a table," Jackie chimed in, "Soul, get your drink and come meet us!" She said, practically pulling Harvar and Kilik with her. She flashed a look at Maka that spoke of a long conversation later.

"That girl is nuts." Soul said, somewhat affectionately, turning back to Maka. His expression changed to one of interest, "'S good to see you again, Maka, you look a little different from the perfect maid of honor I remember." He said, glancing at her outfit.

Maka was thankful for the dim lighting- as her face discolored again. This was certainly unexpected. It wasn't like she hated the guy, but he did have a tendency to piss her off ridiculously easily.

"Well I… I have to work somewhere right?" She responded.

Soul snorted, "Well yeah, but a bar wouldn't have been my first choice as a minor." He said, giving her a sideways glance.

"They were hiring, I was looking, that's all there is to it." She answered, matter-of-factly, glaring at Soul when he laughed. "I was in a hurry to find a job!" She defended.

"Ok, ok," Soul said, holding his hands up, "I believe you, doesn't mean I can't find it funny though."

She glared at him and smacked her fist on the bar counter. "Did you want a drink or not?" She snapped, earning another snigger from the white haired man in front of her. It looked almost like platinum in the low light of the bar.

He turned his dark red eyes to her, they shined dully when he narrowed them, "Surprise me."

"What?" Maka practically yelled.

"You heard me, surprise me. Whatever you want to make." He grinned again when she stared right back at him, green eyes fierce.

"Fine." She said, carefully. Like I've never heard that one before. She got an unfortunate amount of people who had told her to 'surprise them' and she nearly always just gave then a vodka soda. She bit back the urge to do the same to the arrogant looking boy in front of her. She grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a few other ingredients and went to work. A few seconds later she slid a cocktail glass in front of Soul.

He looked at it thoughtfully and took a sip. His eyes flashed up to meet her expectant ones. "An old fashioned…Can I ask why?"

It was Maka's turn to grin. "Talking to you is like drinking an old fashioned- bitter at first but not so bad once you get used to it. You're kind of old school as well, a little wiser than most." Ugh, old school?! Wlse?! Why did I say that?

Soul cleared his throat and looked down for a second. When he brought his gaze back up to meet hers, his expression was unreadable. "Interesting. Very interesting."

Maka quirked an eyebrow, not sure what to make of his demeanor "Whatever, Sherlock, go sit down and let me get back to work." Soul laughed again and leaned into the bar so Maka was looking slightly up at his face.

"Whatever you say, tender of the bar." His grin was wicked as he stepped away. He turned around but paused, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Old fashions happen to be my go-to drink, by the way."

He walked away without another word, leaving a dumbfounded Maka to stare after him. "What is this, Madmen?" She said under her breath.

"Wow he was cute!" Marie cooed from behind, making Maka jump. "Too young for me though."

"He's an acquaintance," Maka said, tidying up the bar before grabbing a beer for a customer, "He's alright I guess."

"Alright? Jeeze you've got tough standards, eh?" Marie laughed. "How about another shot?"

"Uhh I think I'm ok, Mar-" She was cut off when a shot glass filled with clear liquid was shoved in her hand. She looked suspiciously at it. "If this is everclear I'll be really mad."

"Relax," Marie said, clinking her own glass against Maka's, "It's only blueberry liquor!" They both took their shots, Maka scrunching her face again. Shots were not her thing.

"Thanks Marie." Maka murmured, felling slightly fuzzy. She hurried away to another person waiting at the bar to order.

XOXO

Both Harvar and Jackie came to order more drinks, speaking briefly with her before returning to their table. Maka could spot Soul's white hair from the far left side of the bar but could never quite see him clearly. She wondered what they were talking about and wished she could go find out, but as soon as she thought about checking, another customer would appear.

The next time she saw her friends they were all together, waiting at the bar, Soul standing silently beside them.

"Are you guys taking off?" Maka asked, walking to meet them.

"Yep! Wanna close our tabs?" Jackie said, looking slightly hazy. The alcohol had definitely kicked in.

"I can't believe it's already 11, we're going to be late for our own party!" Kilik said somewhat glumly. "Yo Maka," he called when she returned with Jackie and Harvar's cards and receipts, "Hook a brother up?" He looked so hopeful, and Maka wasn't feeling particularly snappy with the alcohol still floating through her system. The three others looked at her somewhat expectantly, Soul looking more challenging than the other two.

She sighed and pulled out five shot glasses and bottle of tequila. She lined up the glasses on the bar and poured a solid shot and a half into each in a row. Taking one for herself, she held it out and waited for the others to do the same. They all grinned and Kilik praised her with a fist bump and a 'whoop!' before she dumped salt on their hands and gave them each a lime.

"You owe me, Kilik." She said, sternly, to which everyone laughed. "Cheers."

"Cheers!" The other four repeated, downing their drinks. For once Maka didn't grimace, a sign it was probably time to stop drinking for tonight.

"Sweet, see you later, Maka!" Kilik called, heading towards the door.

"Sorry you can't make it tonight." Harvar added, following Kilik.

"We're hanging out next weekend, alright?" Jackie said, winking at Maka and rushing to catch up with Kilik and Harvar. "Meet you out there Soul!" She called when he hung behind.

Maka leveled her eyes with his, preparing for a snide comment. When he remained silent and just grinned, she snapped "What? You didn't think I would drink?"

"I'm just shocked you broke the law," Soul feigned a surprised look, "You're such a bad influence."

Maka scoffed and was about to tell Soul off before he held up a hand and gave her a lopsided grin.

"Kidding." He drawled. "When are you off work tonight?"

"Probably not until after one, at the earliest." She answered, clearing the glasses off the bar.

Soul hummed, tapping a finger on the counter to the music, absent-mindedly. "I'll text you... T'make sure you get home ok." He then added, "Harver tells me you just moved, this neighborhood can get a little sketch."

Maka raised an eyebrow. "So I hear. Ah yes, you have my number, as I recall." Soul looked back at her and grinned.

"Haven't gotten much use out of it yet, time to start, I guess. 'Specially now that we're much closer socially than we thought." Soul said, making Maka sigh in defeat.

"Whatever. Have fun at the party." She grumbled.

"Wish you could come," Soul said, seriously, "I think you'd have fun."

"I'm not much of a partier."

"I figured as much."

"Well then why did you-!" Maka was about to get pissed again but Soul cut her off.

"Text ya later, have a good night." He said, inclining his head, his eyes looked almost black from this angle, but Maka knew better.

She sighed. "You as well, watch out for the music level, the cops showed up last time." Maka grinned when Soul laughed.

"You can count on me," He said, giving her a mock salute. His eyes were hooded then. "Later, Maka." He said, the typical lopsided grin in place.

"Later, Soul." She replied, watching him maneuver between the large crowd of people until she heard a customer ask her for a drink, snapping her back into reality.

XOXO

It was two hours later when Maka was finally allowed to leave. The bar technically closed at 2 am usually, but Maria had let her go early, claiming Maka needed to get some rest for when school started. Maka was surprised she had lasted that long as it was- she was absolutely exhausted, not to mention she had drank tonight as well (although the 3 shots had worn off almost completely by now).

Maka was currently making her way down the sidewalk attempting to embody the term 'blending in' as much as possible. There were people everywhere, this was nothing like her old neighborhood where most people were in bed by midnight and you might get a couple of drunk college kids now and then. Compared to that, this place was pure chaos. Maka side-stepped a drunk guy being shoved by an equally drunk guy and hugged the wall as close as she could. Just a few more blocks and then I'll be good to go. She thought, watching the guy who was shoved hunch over and puke.

"Hey there sweetheart!" A voice slurred at her. She turned her head to see a group of guys approaching. "Aren't you that new bar tender? Yep, 's you alright!" the owner of the voice was a young guy in a Shibusen athletics t-shirt. She vaguely remembered seeing him among the people ordering from her. He was tall- much taller than her- and had a muscular build. In fact every guy in his posse had the same burly body type that she SO was not about to deal with right now.

Maka picked up her pace a little, wanting nothing more than to just crawl into bed and be off of this crowded sidewalk.

"Hey, hey, hey! Stop walkin' so fast there!" The guy said, catching up to her with unexpected speed and slinging an arm around her shoulder. "C'mon, the nights young, wanna come to a party at Sigma Chi?" The other guys in the group laughed and whooped as Maka moved away from the man- his breath stank of liquor.

"Not interested." She said as firmly as she could, which gained her another round of laughs from the group.

"Not interested?" He repeated, feigning sadness while taking a step towards her. Maka backed up but was met with the wall of a building. "I don't know if I like the sound of that, what's with a party, ehh guys?" he shouted, to which his friends responded to with their own affirmatives. He grabbed her wrist with a large hand, his fingers completely encompassing it.

"Hey, let go!" Maka yelled, trying to twist her hand out of his grasp. But in his drunk-super-sayan strength, he managed to hold on with ease, even though Maka considered herself a pretty strong girl. "I'm serious, let go of my wrist, I said I didn't want to come with you!"

"Why're you actin' angry? I know how you really feel, sweetheart." He said, once again bringing his face close to hers, she could see his face now clearly- chiseled, handsome, with sweeping blonde bangs across his forehead. He was gorgeous, but she wanted absolutely nothing to do with men that don't take women seriously when they say no. Maka struggled against him. "Now, I'm not askin' for much, jus want you to be a good gir-"

Out of nowhere, a fist made contact with his face, and he immediately let go of Maka's arm as he fell to the ground.

"Didn't you hear her the first time, asshole? She said she wasn't interested." Maka looked to see the owner of the voice and was shocked to find a pair of bodacious, beautiful girls standing there- one was tall, with long, dirty blond hair, and the other was slightly shorter with light blond hair and a crazed grin on her face.

"Hey you bitch!" One of the guys from the group said. "Who the fuck do you think you are? Do you know who he is?"

"No I don't." The taller girl said, putting her hands on her hips. "And more importantly, I don't give a rat's ass, harassment is harassment."

The shorter girl cackled manically, "You bastards are lucky we have somewhere to be or we'd beat your sorry asses into the fucking ground."

One of them lunged towards the girls, only to end up colliding with the pavement as he was tripped by one of their feet. "Don't even try to mess with us, you drunk losers. Just get the fuck out of here!"

The others in the group picked up their fallen comrades and gave the trio dirty looks as they slinked away.

Maka tried to talk but her voice was barely audible. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Th-thank you. I don't know what I would have done without you." She managed to get out, shakily.

"Hey, no problem." Said the taller girl with a smile, "gotta look out for one another, right?" The other girl laughed beside her.

Maka nodded, not really knowing what else to say.

"The name's Liz," said the taller girl, "and this is my younger sister, Patty." She said, gesturing to the shorter girl, who was rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Maka," Maka said, giving a weak smile. "Where'd you learn to punch like that?"

Liz laughed, "You lean to punch pretty good when your life depends on it every day, it's just something we used to deal with when we lived in New York."

Maka nodded, rubbing her wrist absentmindedly. "I guess I should learn to do the same if I'm going to be living around here."

"You live close by?" Patty asked, invading Maka's comfort zone by a foot.

Maka took a step back before answering, "I live a few blocks away from here, actually."

"Well then, let us walk you home, it gets pretty sketchy around here after 11 or so." Liz said, giving Maka a thumbs up.

"I don't want to put you out, I think I'll be ok." She replied, trying her best to not sound as shaken as she was. She was no stranger to the lewd behavior of men; between her bartending job and the parties she went to, she got plenty of harassment- not to mention her father who was the prime example of a skeezy man. She was usually expecting it in those situations though. In her current exhausted state, and her growing headache from too much booze and no water, it had really scared her to be so violently approached by a group of guys.

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to see Patty grinning at her. "Ah don't worry, huh? We live close by too so it's not a big deal!"

Maka looked between the two sisters- one seemed cool and calm while the other seemed giggly and possibly insane. But for whatever reason, Maka decided to trust them. She nodded and smiled, thanking them for their help.

The three walked down the sidewalk, making small talk. Maka found out that Liz and Patty were students at Shibusen, though both were a class behind the rest of the students their age, as they hadn't made the decision to go to school until later. When they got to Maka's apartment complex she turned around and bowed her head slightly.

"Thank you both so much for your help tonight, I really don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there." She said, sincerely. When she looked back up, the sisters both wore wide grins.

"Hey sis, I thought we were headed in a familiar direction." Patty cackled.

"Wouldn'cha know it, Maka, it looks like we're neighbors!" Liz said while pushing her way through the gate. "What floor are you on?"

Maka had a bewildered look on her face as she answered, "Third, floor, end of the hallway."

"Hey, hey, look at that! I think we really are neighbors!" Patty said, walking up the stairs. When they made it to the third floor, they all headed down the hallway and rounded the final corner. Maka stopped in front of her door, and the sister stopped in front of the door across the hall.

No fucking way.

"Wait, you guys are the drug dealers?!" Maka quickly clamped her hand across her mouth. That was NOT what she had meant to say. But instead of causing anger, she was met with hysterical laughs from the girls.

"Wow, I didn't think we were THAT obvious!" Liz chuckled, while Patty was doubled over and almost in tears. "It's not a huge operation, we just sell weed on the side to get some extra cash. We try to keep it quiet but I guess some customers talk too much."

Maka didn't know what to say, it wasn't like she had ever been too bothered by it, but it just seemed really sketchy. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you out like that." She apologized, "I just noticed a lot of traffic in and out of your apartment and thought that was the case."

"It's no big deal!" Liz responded, "But now that we know each other, just let us know if things are bothering you."

"Sure, no problem." Maka said with a slight smile. Her inner, mostly law-abiding, voice was squashed down. Behind Liz and Patty, the door to their apartment opened, and out stepped the golden-eyed Hannibal Lector from the morning. Maka gaped at him, she had completely forgot about this guy.

"Liz, Patty!" He said sternly, "Where on earth have you been? You told me you'd be home 2 hours ago. And why are your phones off?! I gave you those for a reason, you know you could have at least let me-"

"Kidd! Calm down!" Patty yelled, jumping on top of him, bringing him to the ground. "We made a new friend, see?"

The crazy guy, Kidd, looked up from underneath Patty's legs to meet her stare, narrowing his eyes when he recognized her. "Oh I see, you've made a new friend, have you?" He pushed Patty off and stood up, walking forward to stand in front of Maka. "You aren't wearing your pig tails this evening." He said poignantly.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Liz asked, leaning sideways to see Maka.

"We had a brief encounter this morning, upon which she asymmetrically ran into me." Kidd said, matter-of-factly.

"Hey, that was just as much your fault as mine!" Maka fired back, "Plus you intentionally rammed into my other shoulder, what's up with that, huh?!"

Kidd's eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to respond but Patty's hand over his face pushed him out of the way. "Don't mind Kidd!" She laughed, "He's too OCD to function."

"I resent that!" Kidd said from behind.

"Alright, give it a rest, Kidd, she's had a long night." Liz interjected. Then she put a hand on both of their backs, "By the way, Kidd, this is Maka. Maka, meet Death the Kidd, or Kidd, for short."

Maka's face took an incredulous look, "'Death the Kidd', is that some sort of alias?"

"I assure you my name is 100% real, my parent's were a little eccentric about names." Kidd responded, then held out both of his hands.

Maka looked down, and then back up, raising an eyebrow.

Kidd's face twitched. "Watch it."

Maka sighed, lowered her eyebrow, and grasped both of his hands with hers, "Nice to meet you."

"Wonderful. Well now that we're all acquainted, can we PLEASE go to sleep?" Kidd said, turning to face Liz and Patty.

"Wait you all live together?" Maka asked, shocked. How could such an OCD person live with two crazy, drug-dealing, albeit friendly, girls?

"I know we seem like an unlikely group, but the three of us get along really well!" Liz answered with a smile.

Maka smiled as well. Opposites attract, as they say. "Well it was nice to meet you all, I guess I'll see you around." She said, pulling out her keys.

"Oh you bet we will," Patty said mischievously.

"Yeah, we'll definitely see you around, we should have dinner sometime!" Liz said animatedly, as a sulky Kidd rolled his eyes. Liz's face got serious then, "Are you sure you're ok, Maka? Your wrist looks like it's probably going to bruise."

Maka looked down and the angry red skin encircling her small wrist. She shrugged and smiled. "I think I'll be ok, and thank you again for everything."

"Don't be afraid to knock on our door if you need anything." Liz said, still seriously.

Kidd looked between the three girls, "Wait, why only one wrist? Who's the bastard who committed such a crime of disgraceful-"

But Liz quickly cut him off with a cheery, "Ok, well have a good night, see you later!" before ushering Patty and Kidd into their apartment.

Maka unlocked her own apartment and stepped inside, locking the door behind her. She flicked on the lights and took off her boots. She heard a 'meow' then saw Blair slinking towards her. The cat rubbed her face against Maka's leg until she picked her up. "Hey Blair, did you miss me?"

She was met with another meow as she carried Blair into her bedroom. She set Blair on the bed and began changing into her pajamas. It wasn't until she started taking off her makeup that she realized her hands were shaking.

"Guess I better invest in some mace, huh Blair?" She said, ignoring the feeling in her stomach. Just then, she heard her phone buzz from the pocket of her discarded jeans. She retrieved the phone and saw that an unknown number had texted her. She felt her pulse quicken, slightly, as she slid her phone open to read it.

Hey, it's Soul, hope you got home alright. I would tell you to come over to the party but the cops shut it down for noise complaints. Doubt you're surprised.

Maka's heart skipped a beat, she hadn't actually expected Soul to text her, most drunk people barely remembered to take their phone home with them, let alone use it. She smiled as she typed out a response.

I did warn you, but there's not a whole lot you can do once MC Kilik puts his playlist on.

She hit the send button and walked to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. When she got back into her bedroom, she saw that Soul had replied. She opened her phone and read his message.

Yeah, I'll have to remember that for the next one. So you got home ok?

Maka fidgeted, not quite knowing how to respond. This was one of the times where texting gave her the privacy she needed to formulate words.

I did make it home. Thanks for checking in!

She sent the message. It wasn't a lie, she had made it home, there were just a few bumps along the way. She plugged her phone into her bedside table charger and slid into bed beside Blair. Her phone buzzed again and she opened another text from Soul.

Good to hear, there were a lot of people out. Nice to see you tonight, we'll talk soon- night, Maka.

We'll talk soon? What did that mean? Was he planning on seeing her or something? Maka decided to leave her questioning alone for tonight, it had been a long day.

Good night, Soul.

Was her simple response. She set her alarm before putting it back in it's charging dock. She felt utterly exhausted as she slid into her sheets, but her mind was racing at the speed of light. She sighed and decided to read a chapter from her book to ease her thoughts. At the moment, she was reading a fantasy novel about a kingdom with constant political tourmoil, an ungodly amount of main character deaths, and where the summer had lasted more than nine years. Winter was supposedly coming, but it sure was taking it's time.

She was soon carried away by the book into it's storyline, and she began to put the night behind her. Maka liked to switch off from fiction to non-fiction every book- she'd read a biography or a historical novel, and then read a fantasy novel or some other fiction book. But if she was reading a series, like she was now, she'd usually just finish out the series.

It wasn't long before Maka's eyes began to droop and her brain finally slowed down. She marked her place and turned off the light, drifting into a deep sleep before long.

XOXO

A/N: Heyyy everybody thank you for making it this far! Once again, you all rock, I'm stoked to hear that you like the story! I can't believe we're already on chapter 4 and school hasn't even started yet, but again, these first few chapters are necessary to set up the rest of the story. There's just a few more things I need to get ready before things roll a little smoother. As always, thank you for leaving reviews, they're so appreciated, and thank you for reading! See you in the next one. XXX


	5. Chapter 5

5

I just want you to be a good girl, be a good girl and don't you dare say no. Hey sweetheart, are you even listening to me? Just stay right like that… _she was struggling against heavy hands on her wrists, trying to break free from the monster holding her down. Try as she might, she couldn't pry her hands out of the grip. She began to panic, twisting and turning but was only met with harsh, unforgiving laughter._

Maka jolted out of her nightmare and stared blankly at her ceiling, her breathing shallow and quick. She covered her face with an arm and found it covered in sweat when she pulled it away. She checked her bedside clock- 10:00 am, holy shit she had slept through her alarm.

Sighing, she got up and headed to the bathroom, followed by Blaire, who was clearly not happy about her late breakfast. Maka splashed her face with water and stared at her reflection. She had missed removing some of her eye makeup the previous night, she noted, as black smudges had appeared under her eyes. She frowned, pointing at her face in the mirror.

"Get it together, Maka, it's so not the time to be feeling weird. Wake up and face the day!" With that, she forced herself to smile- it actually did help her mood a little. She left the bathroom and headed to the kitchen, pouring a meowing Blaire some cat food and opting for the leftover quiche from yesterday for herself. She read the news as she ate, pleased to see nothing too terrible had happened in the world since she slept.

She put her dishes in the sink, vowing to clean them before she left the house, and retreated to her room to check on her phone. "22 messages?" Maka read, unlocking her phone screen. Half of them were from her dad, the other half were drunk texts from her friends the previous night.

 _Maka, why is your ass not on this dance floor?_

 _Maka, sweetheart, guess who? Oh you probably already saw my name but it's you're loving father here to say I miss you and I haven't heard from you in a while. Papa really wishes-_

 _Duuuuuude_ _can you please bring some 5ths from work? We runnin_ _way low!_

 _Oh, I didn't realize there's a character limit with these messages… But sweetie seriously, Papa misses you more than you could know, I know you're angry at_ _Papa for various-_

 _Hey, don't listen to anything about 5ths, we cut Jackie off and she's going nuts about it._

 _All I'm trying to say sweetie is that Papa would love to have you back in the house again, I know finances are probably tight now that you don't have a roommate to hel-_

 _Ok srsly_ _wear you at girl?!_ _Can you at least lemme_ _know if you ok?_

 _So I guess what I'm asking is, would you consider making Papa part of your life again? I mean I know I'm not close to Shibusen_ _but with a bike anything is pos-_

 _Yo_ _Maka_ _for real, no one's heard from you are you ok?_

 _Oh wait it's cool, Soul said he gotta_ _hold of you, get you ass to the next party you hear!?_

 _Sible. Maka, are you trying to ignore me? You know how Papa feels when you ignore me, I really start to feel sad, I mean sure, I_ _MAY have made some mistak-_

 _Shit never mind yo, we just got shut the fuck down, the popo_ _can't handle my spinz._

 _Dammit! Kilik_ _got the party shut down, don't bother comin_ _grl. You best be here next time to help keep him under control!_

"Dear God…" Maka breathed, trying to sift through the piles and piles of drunk texts. She hadn't seen any of them last night because Soul's had popped up and booted the rest, but she felt a little guilty now for not responding to her friends… her father she felt no regrets toward, he was probably sitting between to busty females as he typed that up.

She quickly sent a few apology texts to her friends, saying she just got off way too late to head over and promising to make it to the next one. To her father, she sent a short, under 170 characters response promptly shutting down his idea of her moving back in with him. She did however, let him down a little easy claiming the distance from school was a large part of her decision (which it really had nothing to do with).

Maka grabbed her computer and headed out to the sofa, where she flicked on the TV and went surfing the internet for the best deals on her textbooks. She had learned the hard way about buying books from the school bookstore, but was sure to never make that mistake again (once more, text book prices amirite or amirite?). An hour or two had passed and she had finished the majority of her textbook shopping. Only her music theory class required her to buy the class materials at the bookstore. It was just another reason to loathe an already shitty class arrangement. She also looked over her class lists a few more time, checking out her teachers on Rate my professor, of course. The good news was that the majority of her teachers seemed pretty cool. The bad news was, ONCE AGAIN, her music theory professor had been metaphorically referred to as "Satan's insane twin brother." This class was shaping up to be a great time. She saw the same name pop up for her Anatomy and Physiology class and was highly confused. _Must be a common last name._ She thought.

She pulled up the drop-class option on her school account and was about to drop this ridiculous class when she heard a knock at her door. She shuffled over to it and peeked out the eyehole. The Thompson sisters were standing there, wearing almost identical outfits of a red crop-top and a white cowboy hat. Maka opened the door for them, a smile in place. "Hey Liz, hey Patty, what brings you here so early?"

"First of all, Maka," Liz started, with a grin "It's almost noon, I don't think we can call it early anymore."

"And secondly," Patty interjected, manically, "We wanna teach your sorry ass a thing or two!"

"Patty! Come on, I said be gentle." Liz said sternly turning to her sister.

"Well what do you want from me, some sugar-coated lie, or the Goddamn truth?!" Patty yelled sighed and turned to Maka once more, whose face was beet-red from embarrassment. "Not trying to say you can't handle yourself, we just want to help a little bit, and we figured today was a good day to start!"

Maka smiled, not offended by the sister's good intentions, no matter how harsh it had sounded. "Yeah I definitely have some time, and I wanna see how you took that guy down like that!"

Liz and Patty chuckled… Well, Liz chuckled, Patty didn't really have an in-between laugh, it all sounded fairly insane. "In good time, grasshopper." Liz said. "How about meet us in the hallway in a half hour? There's a park around the corner that's usually pretty empty."

"Sounds good, see you two soon!" Maka grinned and shut the door. She felt like she probably should be a little offended, but this sudden proposition had her incredibly excited. She went into her room to change as the drop-class web page on her laptop expired, long forgotten.

XOXO

A while later, Maka reemerged from her apartment to find the Thompsons sisters coming out of their apartment as well, followed by Kidd, who was dressed in a black tracksuit with white stripes on the outside of the legs and arms.

Maka hesitated, not quite liking the last physical interaction she had with Kidd. Liz noticed her pause and spoke up. "Ah don't worry, I know Kidd's a wacko but what better way to practice fending off a crazy person than to use one?"

Kidd turned angrily towards Liz and looked like he was about to throw a fit when Patty jumped onto his shoulders.

"Let's go, wacko! To the park!" She screamed.

Maka couldn't argue with that logic, so she happily followed behind the trio of misfits. She herself was wearing a pair of black running tights and a loose fitting t-shirt, not sure with how intense the practice was actually going to get.

The four of them walked out of the back entrance to the apartment complex and crossed the street into the park. They went over to the soccer field, which was currently empty, and put their cell phones and wallets in the grass.

"Alright, Maka," Liz said, pointing at her, gallantly, "are you ready to learn some self defense, and in doing so prevent creepy people from touching you?"

Maka glanced over at Kidd (who glowered back) before looking back at Liz. "I guess so…" She said, reluctantly.

"Oh no, there are no halvsies here, girlfriend. Are you in or are you out!?" Patty added, invading Maka's bubble.

Maka set her face to a more serious one and nodded at the sisters, "I'm ready."

"Good!" Liz answered with a smile, "Then we're ready to start."

The next hour or so was spent teaching and practicing self defense techniques to use against attackers. They taught Maka a bunch of different ways to incapacitate or immobilize an attack, all of which were demonstrated by a brooding Kidd. He was pretty sick of the whole event by the end.

"But you two never used any techniques like this when you took care of those douchebags," Maka said at one point in the training, "Shouldn't I be learning some of those moves?"

"There's a difference between self defense and what Liz and Patty are capable of." Kidd answered. "In your case, your goal is to either buy yourself enough time to call 911 or flee the scene entirely. What Liz and Patty did was offensively take down a hostile enemy. Unless you have the muscles and the skills to back up an attack like that, it's a sure way to get yourself in some serious trouble."

The hair on the back of Maka's neck stood up as she remembered how easily Liz and Patty were able to take care of those huge dudes.

"Coming from you, I'm flattered." Liz said. "We certainly aren't any match for you, Kidd. Maka, you may not have guessed this given his quirks, but Kidd is actually far better at fighting than Patty and I combined."

Maka stared in wonder at Kidd, who shrugged nonchalantly. "I wouldn't necessarily say that. Just blame it on my strict upbringing."

Maka hadn't really thought about it, but Kidd did happen to have a very athletic posture/demeanor. Paired with the fact that she had felt his muscular build when he 'attacked' her in different ways made the whole thing a little more believable.

The lesson had ended on 'the most important skill' as Liz called it. "No matter how many self defense tips we teach you, never having to use them is the best skill of all."

Maka must've looked confused because Patty started laughing again. "It's not as confusing as you think!" she laughed, "We're just talking about how you act."

"How I act?" Maka asked, not really sure what they meant, still.

"It's all about what energy you put out." Liz said, "There's a reason most people don't bother me or Patty, and it's not just because we have a reputation."

"We're fucking scary!" Patty added, "We send people running before they even look at us."

"This is probably a little confusing without having a demonstration." Liz said, coming to stand next to Patty. Her whole demeanor changed from happy and light to frigid and frightening. Her posture transformed, and the look on her face resembled something out of a horror movie. Patty had similarly changed but her face was screwed up into some sort of wicked grin that spoke thousands of words.

Maka physically recoiled, backing into Kidd who steadied her with his hands. "This is what I first ran into in the streets of New York, and I thought I'd surely meet my end… Of course they carried guns at the time, so the threat was a little more peril."

Maka gave a slight gasp at the thought of Liz and Patty toting around glocks. It wasn't like she knew them all that well, but she was still shocked at the idea.

"The street's a scary place." Liz said gravely, returning to normal, "You tend to pick up a few bad habits."

"Give us your mean mug, Maka!" Patty yelled.

"I mean I can get angry…" Maka began, "I don't know if I can get that intense though."

"It's not about anger." Kidd said, coming to face her. "It's not even about looking as ridiculously scary as Liz and Patty."

"Hey, I resent that!" Liz interjected. Kidd ignored her outcry and continued.

"We each posses a sort of energy… an aura, if you will. Anyone can alter their aura based on their mood. Do you know that feeling in the air when you're around someone who's seriously irritated? Or that strange, electric feeling you get when you're surrounded by friends and loved ones?"

"I think so?" Maka said, trying to recall an encounter like that.

"There's a reason we can feel someone's 'eyes' on us. It's a scientific phenomenon based on energy direction." Kidd continued, "But I digress. Let's get back to you. Try to think of the most unapproachable person you've met, put out the energy that anyone who looks at you is so insignificant and unimportant, that coming toward you would be the biggest mistake of their life."

Maka took a deep breath and concentrated on feelings of indifference and loathing both at the same time. She thought of icy hatred and fury, but also of nothing. It was difficult to stay concentrated, but she managed. When she looked back up at Kidd, his face visibly twitched, as if he'd been struck. His golden eyes stared perplexedly into her emerald ones as she tried to remain focused.

"Pppffhhh hahahaha!" Patty began laughing maniacally, "Damn, girl, you picked that up real quick!"

Maka's concentration was broken immediately as she laughed awkwardly along with Patty. Kidd was not as amused.

"Yes, you did pick that up surprisingly fast." He said, and looked as if he had more to say before Liz interrupted.

"That was really good, Maka!" Liz added, "I think the air temperature dropped a few degrees."

"I think you all are just really good teachers!" Maka said, smiling.

"Well we've taught you pretty much all the basics," Liz said, "Let's get back to the apartment complex, I still have to sign up for like three classes!"

Kidd's eye blazed. "Are you actually insane, Elizabeth?!" He screamed, "I thought we agreed months ago on corresponding schedules!"

"Aw don't get all mad at her, Kidd!" Patty said, bouncing over next to her sister, "I still haven't signed up for any of my classes!"

Kidd made a strange, inhuman-like sound in the back of his throat before dropping to his knees and muttering about abusive relationships.

Maka laughed as the three girls began to walk back to the apartment complex. Although she agreed with Kid that Liz and Patty were crazy for waiting till the literal last minute, she could tell that these girls always found a way to push through.

"Hey, you two should sign up for jiu jitsu with me! I'm taking it on Tuesday and Thursday!" Maka said excitedly. "I mean you'd probably be able to kick the teacher's ass but still..."

"Hell yeah!" Patty screamed and Liz nodded her head in approval.

Behind they could hear Kidd picking himself up and moaning, following the girls through a haze of discontent.

XOXO

Maka had spent the rest of the afternoon running errands and shopping for groceries/school supplies. She was currently cooking dinner while listening to the evening news talk about all the terrible things in the world. The news was important to her, but after a while it could get quite depressing.

" _In local news, yet another attack near Shibusen_ _University has occurred. The victim, an 18 year old_ _freshmen at Shibusen, was on her way home from the library when she was grabbed by a group of men in black ski masks. The girl was brutally beaten and dragged off. Moments later, local authorities were called by an onlooker. Police were able to find the girl before the situation escalated, but were unable to detain the attackers. All students are advised to take special precautions_ when _travelling around campus at night…"_

The news anchor continued to list safety steps to stay out of trouble, most of which were specifically aimed at females, considering all of the attacks had been on women.

"Awesome, just another reason to love living alone." Maka said to herself as she switched the TV to something a little less doom and gloom. An episode of house hunters was playing so she left it at that, thinking that the house she picked for Tsubaki's wedding would beat any house they could put on this show.

Speaking of, none other than her best friend was coming over tonight for dinner and she was currently cooking a tofu stew and fried rice. It had been so long since she'd seen Tsubaki, she had so many questions about her honeymoon, and about her marriage in general. She'd be able to ask soon though, Tsubaki would be here any minute, and without her husband at that, so they could get some good chatting in.

There was a light knock on her door, which was unmistakably that of her soft spoken friend, and she hurriedly took off her oven mitts. "Just a second!" She yelled at the door.

Blaire was currently rubbing up against the door and meowing like she was in heat. Maka came over and shooed her away before unlocking the door and opening it. There, standing in the doorframe with a glowing tan, was Tsubaki… And Blackstar. The smile that was plastered on Maka's face fell off and hit the floor. She was not informed Blackstar would be joining them.

"What's up, Maka?!" Blackstar yelled, coming through the door and kicking his shoes off. He tried to put Maka in a headlock but she was faster, and with a little help from today's lesson (and the fact that he was completely off guard) she twisted his arm around and put him in a chokehold.

"Blackstar." She said curtly, to which he made gurgling noises. "And Tsubaki, what a surprise." She half smiled at her friend, who looked incredibly apologetic, and a little bit frightened for her husband.

"Maka, sorry I didn't call and say Blackstar was coming," Tubaki said, with an ashamed look planted on her face, "It was last minute, and he really wanted to see you and thank you again for all your hard work for our wedding. Also, he won't be staying, he's meeting a friend near here so he won't be eating dinner."

Maka looked down at her captive who looked up at her and grinned with a thumbs up. Though it looked a little creepy with his face turning dark red. Maka released him and sighed, she couldn't be mad at Tsubaki, it wasn't her fault that she fell in love with a lunatic. _A lunatic that cares deeply for her and will always be good to her._ Maka reminded herself and gave a genuine smile, this time.

"No problem." She said, giving the pair a hug, "No harm, no foul."

"No harm to you…" Blackstar mumbled as he made his way to the kitchen for some water. This wasn't out of the ordinary for Maka and Blackstar, after all, they had been friends long before she had introduced him to Tsubaki. They had played on the same inter-mural softball team in high school, which Maka finally convinced Tsubaki to join their senior year. They constantly harassed one another, and although they had been in more fights than she could count, Maka still regarded Blackstar as one of her more trust-worthy friends, which is exactly why she had no hang ups about him marrying Tsubaki. Except for the fact that they were far too young in her opinion, but what can you do.

"I've got lemonade in the fridge, Star." She called after the blue haired boy, who was still grumbling about surprise attacks being unacceptable when you want to surpass god. He perked up at this and grudgingly opened the refrigerator.

"Maka, thank you so much for setting this up, really, I missed you so much." Tsubaki said, following her friend into the living room and sitting on the couch. "I can't believe it's been nearly 2 weeks since I saw you, it's so strange to go from every day to not at all." She trailed off and looked truly sad.

Maka smiled, a little touched. Although Tsubaki had never disappeared off of the face of the earth like so many other people in relationships seem to do, Maka was still surprised to hear that she wasn't deep down the honeymoon hole. "I'm happy to hear it," she said, honestly, "You can't imagine how much I missed you either, living alone is much harder than I thought."

At that, Tsubaki looked even more sad. "Oh Maka, I didn't even call to ask how your move went, did everything go ok?"

"Well obviously everything went fine, she's here isn't she?" Blackstar interjected, coming to sit on the couch in between Maka and Tsubaki. Tsubaki glared briefly at him, as if to say 'you clearly know nothing about moving an apartment by yourself'.

"Yeah, to be honest it was kind of a crappy move, but everything has settled down pretty well." Maka said, ignoring Blackstar.

"This place is pretty big," Tsubaki added, "Is it bigger than our place was on the north side?" She gestured to the vastness of the living room, and then to the spare bedroom.

"Actually it's about the same," Maka replied, also looking around, "It just looks bigger because there's less furniture, I think." She winked at this last part, to which Tubaki blushed. Tsubaki had a strangely large furniture collection, claiming a lot of it was her parents doing.

"Yeah seriously, don't even ask where we ended up putting it all." Blackstar laughed, "I've never seen so much furniture in my whole damn life!"

The three continued to chat about Maka's move, and the honeymoon. Maka was not surprised to learn that Blackstar had managed to fall asleep while paddle boarding and ended up drifting out to sea. That would explain the sunburn.

"After I saw the shark, I knew I needed to get the attention of the life guard." Blackstar said, fully engrossed in his story telling, "So I straight Mcgyvered that shit! I broke my snorkel mask and made a magnifying glass out of the pieces. Then I used the sun shining through to light my shorts on fire, then sling shot them into the sky with the goggle straps! It was fucking epic." He finished with a far off look in his eyes.

"Jesus Christ..." Maka trailed off, looking between Blackstar and Tsubaki. Tsubaki was shaking her head.

"I wish I could say he was exaggerating, but it's unfortunately true, the next thing I saw was the lifeguards speeding off in their boat toward a line of smoke in the sky." Tsubaki continued. "When they came back in there was Blackstar, naked and incredibly sunburned." She finished with a blush.

"One of my better moments I'd say." Blackstar said fondly. Maka laughed loudly at the prospect of a very sunburnt idiot getting off of a lifeguard boat, grinning and waving at his embarrassed wife. "Well it's about that time." Blackstar said, checking his phone. "Soul's gonna kick my ass if I'm late."

Maka's head snapped up. "You're meeting Soul?" She asked, trying not to sound too interested.

"Yeah, haven't seen him since we got back, we're probably gonna shoot some hoops." Blackstar said, then turning toward Maka with a suspicious look on his face, he asked, "When did you and Soul get to know each other so well?"

"I don't know him well!" Maka said, furrowing her brows at her blue haired friend, " I just know him from your wedding, he _was_ the best man, after all, and you two _did_ seat me next to him."

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Said Blackstar, nonchalantly, as he went to the door and started putting his shoes on. "Want me to tell him you say hi?" He asked innocently, though the wicked grin on his face was anything but that.

He narrowly dodged the encyclopedia that hurtled toward his head. He looked back to see Maka giving him the middle finger.

"Point taken." He sniggered. "But seriously, thanks for all you did for us for the wedding, you're a miracle worker... I mean, you're not a literal miracle worker like me, but I'll give you an honorable mention. We seriously owe you one!" He smiled and gave her thumbs up again.

"You bet, _your godliness_ , you two just stay happy." Maka replied, returning the thumbs up. He'd mostly grown out of the whole 'refering to himself as a god' thing, but some habits are hard to kick.

Blackstar laughed, and opened the door, saying he'd be back later to meet up with Tsubaki and head home. When the door shut, Maka turned back to Tsubaki, who was currently petting a very happy Blaire. "I never realized how much I was going to miss this cat." She said with a sigh.

"She does have a certain charm." Maka agreed. "The move hasn't been easy for her, and I think she misses having extra company around."

Maka stood up and headed to the kitchen as her timer went off, signaling the food was ready. She urned of the stove with the tofu soup bubbling over it and started serving it up with the fried rice and side dishes. Tsubaki came over to help, and the two of them worked in unison to finish getting the food ready.

"Have you ever thought about looking for a roommate?" Tsubaki asked, as they sat back down on the couch. "It would certainly be some added company, maybe ease a little bit of financial stress... not to mention more safe. Have you seen the news?"

Maka flicked her green eyes up to meet Tsubaki's deep indigo ones. She saw the concern there, and put her chopsticks down. "I saw." She said, "I'm learning some self defense to help myself. And I'm still taking that jiu jitsu class with you..." She trailed off, not quite sure if she was ready to tell Tsubaki about last night's encounter. She rubbed her wrist absent mindedly, which she had strategically covered up with a large bangle.

She looked back at Tsubaki and with a dropping of her stomach, realized she'd been quiet for too long. Tsubaki was wearing an expression Maka hadn't seen since Maka told her she was moving out of her father's house. Her eyes were watery, like she was about to cry, as she reached out to touch Maka's arm.

"Maka." She said, seriously, "what happened to you?"

Damn Tsubaki and her perceptiveness. Maka could never get away with anything. She took a deep breath, and took Tsubaki's hand, and slowly began to tell her about her walk home from work.

XOXO

A/N: Hey folks, thanks for reading, once again! A few things I want to clear up, though I'm not sure anyone really cares or not. 1, if you're wondering why I spell out Death the Kid's name as Kidd, it comes from an inside joke of Romanizing the Japanese pronunciation as Desu za kiddo. My friends and I eventually just started saying Kidd and I've never quite been able to let the habit go. 2, man is it easy to tell I've been living in Korea for too long, I couldn't even think of another meal besides sundubu jjigae. 3, I PROMISE THEY WILL GO TO SCHOOL AND DO COLLEGE THINGS EVENTUALLY. This is taking so much longer to set up than anticipated. I'm trying to write a few chapters in advance but there's just a lot of things that need to be put in play first, like just general 'this is how they know each other' and 'this is that person's history' type things. I would say expect school to happen in the next chapter, or possibly the 7th, depending on how I decide to split the chapters.

Again, thanks for reading, I'll hopefully have the next chapter up fairly soon! As always reviews are highly appreciated, and for those of you that have reviewed, I truly appreciate it, and I thank you for that extra bit of time you put in! Cheers, all.


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